Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion
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Opinion page editor Rick Holmes and other writers blog about national politics and issues. Holmes & Co. is a Blog for Independent Minds, a place for a free-flowing discussion of policy, news and opinion. This blog is the online cousin of the Opinion section of the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Mass. As such, our focus starts there and spreads to include Massachusetts, the nation and the world. Since successful blogs create communities of readers and writers, we hope the \x34& Co.\x34 will also come to include you.

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By Rick Holmes

June 17, 2013
9:15 a.m.

The “explainer-in-chief” came to Worcester Saturday to fire up the Ed Markey campaign. As was the case when he spoke to the Democratic National Convention last year, Bill Clinton did a better job of making his candidate’s case than the candidate himself.

Among the points he made that I thought worth writing down:

- During his presidency, the earnings of the bottom 20 percent rose as much as for the top 20 percent. but he said he’s even more proud that 100 times as many people moved from poverty into the middle class in his presidency than under Reagan.

- In 2000, Jim McGovern came to me with a program to tie foreign food aid to school attendance, just like we do in our own school lunch program, Clinton said. “I found $300 million of your money to fund that program. Jim McGovern is personally responsible for sending 6 million poor kids to school.”

- 300,000 jobs were created because Ed Markey brought competition to the internet and telecommunications industry through the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, which he was proud to sign. But it wouldn’t have happened without Ed Markey.

- “I didn’t know we were importing assault weapons from China until Ed Markey told me, and we stopped it.”

- Affordable Care Act: “Massachusetts proves we can make it work,” Clinton said. “And we don’t need another member of Congress praying for America to fail.”

- The largest health care organization in greater DC has been switching away from fee-for-service. It saved $36 million in 2011 and $98 million in 2012. This matters. Americans spend 17.8 percent of GDP on health care, the most among developed countries. The number two country spends 11.8 percent of its GDP on health care. The difference each year adds up to $1 trillion.

- “You have as qualified a candidate for U.S. Senate as I’ve seen in a month of Sundays.”